Which Cat Water Fountain Filters Work Best?

When you purchase a brand new cat water fountain, you might’ve noticed that it came with a water filter (usually with the higher-end models or popular models). The problem with these however, is that they are not the best quality and tend to drop in terms of “filtering” the water and may allow bacteria to grow within the water after a short period of time. The best way to reduce this from occurring is to buy the filters separately, as they aren’t too expensive and you can get one that is a lot better at filtering out bacteria that will fit inside your water fountain easily.

TIP: Make sure that the filter that you purchase is compatible with the cat water fountain that you currently own, so that there won’t be any compatibility issues. This is because brands usually sell fountains that only accept a certain shape of filter that only their brand sells to increase brand royalty.

Types of Cat Water Fountain Filters

There are three main types of cat water fountain filters that are known and widely used. The three types are listed below.

Carbon Filters

Charcoal Filters

The carbon filter is one of the most popular ones and that is because these ones are the best when it comes to filtering water, as carbon is one of the most abundant earth’s resources, which makes purifying water that much easier. Charcoal filter is another great option and is widely used due to its healthy nature, as it cleans water and also purifies it making it healthier to drink out of as well. When campers go on a trip, the purifier that converts river water into drinkable water is mostly due to the carbon and charcoal in the filter.

Best Cat Water Fountain Filters

Below, we will review the best of cat water fountain filters that we think are the best after our review process. As we perform a lot of tests on the water and the pets reaction, we recommend that you use the products in our list below, as those are the ones that will keep your pets water clean and healthy.

1.) PetSafe Drinkwell Replacement Carbon Filter

This filter is a “carbon” filter and is great if you want to remove the bad tasting odor that sometimes come out of bacteria contaminated water, or water that is dirty in general. Of course, you won’t be tell apart if water tastes sour, but you should be able to tell if your pet stays away from the water bowl. If your cat doesn’t drink from it’s water bowl, but does it sometimes, that probably means that you aren’t keeping the bowl sanitary and there is a lot of bacteria in it.

In this case, you should get a cat water fountain and use this carbon filter, as carbon filters are excellent when it comes to removing bacteria and filtering out all the bad stuff that you don’t want in water. As this filter is fairly cheap and comes in a pack, you’ll be able to use it for quite a long time, so that you don’t have to spend too much money changing out filters. A carbon filter is also recommended if you want your pet drinking from the fresh water that cats drank out of before they became house pets. This is because the water from rivers are usually filtered naturally through carbon that is in almost every plant. This product fits into almost every cat water fountain, so we recommend that you get it to help your cat drink healthier.

This type of filter is a “charcoal” filter. Charcoal is also an excellent choice for a filter, as it sucks in all the bad stuff such as bacteria, germs, and releases it back as a healthy and natural resource. Most people use charcoal to heat their body, as it releases the bad hormones, which is why it is a great choice to use as a filter, although it may be a bit more expensive.

The pack that this product comes in is a bit bigger than the previous one, which is why this product has such a big difference in price. However, if you are more into the healthy style, then a charcoal filter will be a lot better than the carbon filter, as a carbon filter doesn’t have a healthy aspect to it other than cleaning out the water and removing the bacteria that is in it.

Conclusion

It is essential that you have a good filter setup inside your water fountain, as if you don’t, you’ll only have dirty water circulating throughout the system. Also, these filters aren’t that expensive, so if you can’t afford these, then we recommend that you don’t use a cat water fountain, because the fountain will be close to useless without a filter to remove the bacteria. We highly recommend that you get a filter today, so that you will no longer have to replace the water yourself, but have the filters do the work for you!

I have the same query please Alex. It’s a ParaCity cat/dog water fountain with a green and white daisy on top. ASIN (whatever that is) no. B01N30N6Z2 if that helps. Bought from Amazon a week ago but I can’t find details anywhere online for filters. Many thanks.

“…essential that you have a good filter setup inside your water fountain, as if you don’t, you’ll only have dirty water circulating throughout the system”

No isn’t essential to have a filter.
Most people pour out water and change it several times a day which is a lot healthier. You can do that whether the water is in a fountain or just in a bowl.
As long as you clean the filter thoroughly every few days… just as you would need to even with a filter… then it will be fine.

Sure, but isn’t the purpose of a cat water fountain to eliminate this task? If you are going to change out the water inside the fountain multiple times, then why bother getting a fountain in the first place?

“isn’t the purpose of a cat water fountain to eliminate this task? If you are going to change out the water inside the fountain multiple times, then why bother getting a fountain in the first place?”

This is exactly the reason that some people shouldn’t be using these fountains; there is no substitute for providing fresh drinking water for a cat and the minimum it should be changed is once a day but better more frequently.
The purpose of a drinking fountain is also to stimulate a cat to drink as they usually prefer fresh running water to still (or stagnant) water. Many also have a low thirst drive and older cats that develop certain conditions need to be stimulated to drink more often.

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About The Author

Alex works at a pet facility and volunteers at an animal shelter. He has over 10 years of experience and has started this website to share his knowledge on cats with the goal of making your lives easier.